|Número de publicación||US7659546 B2|
|Tipo de publicación||Concesión|
|Número de solicitud||US 11/317,281|
|Fecha de publicación||9 Feb 2010|
|Fecha de presentación||23 Dic 2005|
|Fecha de prioridad||23 Dic 2005|
|También publicado como||CN101156254A, CN101156254B, US20070145389, WO2007071173A1|
|Número de publicación||11317281, 317281, US 7659546 B2, US 7659546B2, US-B2-7659546, US7659546 B2, US7659546B2|
|Inventores||Ming Lu, Geoffrey Wen Tai Shuy|
|Cesionario original||Hong Kong Applied Science And Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd.|
|Exportar cita||BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan|
|Citas de patentes (24), Otras citas (4), Clasificaciones (16), Eventos legales (4)|
|Enlaces externos: USPTO, Cesión de USPTO, Espacenet|
The present application relates to semiconductor light emitting diodes.
Various improvements have been proposed to enhance the performance of semiconductor light emitting diodes (LED). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,307,218, entitled “Electrode structures for light emitting device” and assigned to LumiLeds Lighting, U.S., LLC, discloses finger type electrode layouts to solve the current crowding issue in semiconductor LEDs.
Nevertheless, further improvements may still be desirable. For example, few conventional designs have considered heat dissipation and/or energy consumption issues. Such issues may become more noticeable if the LEDs have a relatively large size.
In addition, in order to achieve good current spreading in the semiconductor layers and to avoid overheating in partial areas caused by possible relatively high current in such areas, the design of the '218 patent may need to have a relatively compact electrode layout design. As a result, the opening area for light emission may be unnecessarily small, which may not be desirable, either.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a light emitting device with improved heat dissipation or energy consumption characters, or at least provide the public with a useful choice.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a light emitting device firstly includes a light emitting diode (LED) structure, having a top surface with a light emitting region. The device also has a heterojunction within the LED structure, the heterojunction having a p-type and an n-type semiconductor layer, and a plurality of electrodes positioned on the top surface, each being electrically connected to one of the p-type and n-type semiconductor layers. At least a first and a second electrodes are connected to a same type semiconductor layer and are physically separated from each other. The device further includes a first and a second heterojunction regions within the heterojunction, each being respectively defined between one of the first and second electrodes and one of the other electrodes connected to the other type semiconductor layer. The first and second heterojunction regions are alternatively driven for emitting lights in the time domain.
An embodiment having a power source in electrical connection with the first and second electrodes for alternately driving the first and second heterojunction regions.
Another embodiment where the power source repeatedly, sequentially, and alternately drives the first and second heterojunction regions.
Another embodiment where the power source is an alternate current power source.
Another embodiment having a rectifying circuit electrically connected between the power source and at least one of the first and second electrodes.
Another embodiment where the power source outputs a plurality of periodic discontinuous pulses for alternately driving the first and second heterojunction regions.
Another embodiment where the output of the power source drives at least one of the first and second heterojunction regions at a frequency of at least 20 Hz.
Another embodiment in which the first and second electrodes are diametrically opposed.
Another embodiment in which the first and second electrodes are located at the corners of the top surface.
Another embodiment having a transparent or semi-transparent electrode layer forming the top surface, assisting in the current spreading. The transparent or semi-transparent electrode layer can be made of a material selected from a group of Indium Tin Oxide, Indium Zinc Oxide, and Zinc Oxide.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a light emitting device includes
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which description illustrates by way of example the principles of the invention.
As shown in
A transparent electrode layer 117, made of materials selected from a group of, e.g., Indium Tin Oxide, Indium Zinc Oxide, or Zinc Oxide, is attached atop the p-type semiconductor layer 111 such that it defines the top surface of the LED. The transparent electrode layer 117 functions as a current spreading layer and a transparency electrode as could be generally understood in the art. Due to its transparency, lights can be emitted from the top surface of the LED. Thereby, the light emitting region 105 is defined by uncovered regions of the transparent electrode layer 117.
Four p-electrodes 119 a-d are attached to the transparent electrode layer 117 at its four corners and are electrically connected thereto for providing stable electrical contacts between the transparent electrode layer and external electrical contacts. Each p-electrode 119 a-d has a pair of thin metal lines 121 a, 121 b extending from a metal pad or bump 123 at one of the corners substantially perpendicular to each other towards the other two adjacent corners. The pad 123 has a sector shape in the exemplary embodiment and a substantially enlarged size as compared to the finger-type lines 121 a, 121 b for ensuring good electrical connections to external electrical circuits (not shown in
Part of the active region 107 and the transparent electrode layer 117 are etched away to expose part of the n-type semiconductor layer such that an n-electrode 127, electrically connected to the n-type semiconductor layer 113, can be electrically isolated from the p-electrodes 119 a-d, transparent electrode layer 117 and p-type semiconductor layer 111. The etched part has a substantially circular shape and is positioned in the center of the LED structure when viewed from the top as shown in
As could be appreciated in the art, such p and n-electrode layouts may assist overcoming the current crowding effect.
In addition, four heterojunction regions 129 a-d within the heterojunction are virtually defined between the respective p-electrodes 119 a-d and the n-electrode 127, which will be discussed in further details. The heterojunction regions 129 a-d are defined such that each heterojunction region 129 a-d can be activated so as to emit lights when a certain amount of voltage is applied to the respective p-electrode and n-electrode. As could be appreciated, the dotted lines in
As shown in
It can be generally understood that activation or driving of the heterojunction regions 129 a-d at least partially depends upon the magnitude of the current applied therethrough. For example, when a relatively high current is applied, a relatively large area of each heterojunction regions can be activated to emit lights, and vice versa.
An ordinarily skilled person in the art would appreciate that the above-described embodiments may achieve lower energy consumptions by alternately driving various heterojunction regions of an LED structure in the time domain. Since each heterojunction region of the LED structure now works in an on-and-off status, heat dissipation can be improved as well.
Furthermore, a person skilled in the art would recognize that unnecessary coverage of the transparent electrode layer by the p and n-electrode layout can be reduced as compared to conventional finger-type electrode layout. This is because in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention as shown in
Various type of power signals can be used. For example,
Other alternatives can be made to the preceding described exemplary embodiment. For example, the transparent electrode layer, which assists improving current spreading, may not be necessary, especially in non-top-emitting LEDs.
The words used in this specification to describe the invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification structure, material or acts beyond the scope of the commonly defined meanings. Thus if an element can be understood in the context of this specification as including more than one meaning, then its use in a claim must be understood as being generic to all possible meanings supported by the specification and by the word itself. The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to include not only the combination of elements which are literally set forth, but all equivalent structure, material or acts for performing substantially the same function in substantially the same way to obtain substantially the same result.
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|2||Notice of Allowance issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for U.S. Appl. No. 11/318,314 dated Sep. 16, 2008.|
|3||Office Action issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for U.S. Appl. No. 11/317,937 dated Jun. 26, 2008.|
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|Clasificación de EE.UU.||257/94, 257/89, 257/81, 315/169.3, 257/100, 257/84, 257/99, 257/96, 257/90, 257/85|
|Clasificación internacional||H01L27/15, H01L29/22, H01L33/62|
|Clasificación cooperativa||H01L2924/0002, H01L33/62|
|10 May 2006||AS||Assignment|
Owner name: HONG KONG APPLIED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH,
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:LU, MING;SHUY, GEOFFREY WEN TAI;REEL/FRAME:018134/0099;SIGNING DATES FROM 20060209 TO 20060213
Owner name: HONG KONG APPLIED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH,
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:LU, MING;SHUY, GEOFFREY WEN TAI;SIGNING DATES FROM 20060209 TO 20060213;REEL/FRAME:018134/0099
|20 Abr 2010||CC||Certificate of correction|
|15 Ago 2013||FPAY||Fee payment|
Year of fee payment: 4
|15 Ago 2013||SULP||Surcharge for late payment|